1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement of a roll rearranging apparatus of a tension leveler, and more particularly to a roll rearranging apparatus which can be also applied to a scale breaker.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since a long, narrow strip of plate material (hereinafter referred to as strip) such as cold-rolled steel material is given defect in form such as warp or partial extension on the surface thereof in the process of rolling, a tension leveler is usually used to correct the defect.
An example of the tension leveler is now described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6. As shown in the figures, the tension leveler is to extend a strip 53 and correct the shape thereof by bending the strip 53 by means of a leveling mill (hereinafter referred to as a leveler) 54 composed of a multiplicity of small rolls while giving tension to the strip 53 by input and output bridles 51 and 52. That is, the leveler 54 includes work roll units 55, 56 and 57, a deflector roll units 58 and 59 and a deflector roll unit 60 composed of a pair of rolls which are disposed above and below the strip 53 in staggered manner to put the strip 53 therebetween. The work roll unit 56 and the deflector roll units 58 and 60 disposed above the strip 53 are supported at both ends thereof by roll supports 56a, 58a and 60a, respectively. The roll supports 56a, 58a and 60a move up and down along guide grooves 61a, 61b and 61c of a housing 61 by pairs of cylinders 62, 63 and 64 disposed in a work side W and a drive side D in an upper portion of the housing 61, respectively, and are mounted to be capable of being fixed at the bottom of the grooves. Further, there are provided wheels 65 at both sides of one end of the roll supports 56a, 58a and 60a in the axial direction of the roll in the drive side D, and rails 66, 67 and 68 which receive and guide the wheels 65 are disposed in the housing 61 in the axial direction of the roll. Accordingly, the roll supports 56a, 58a and 60a move horizontally in the axial direction a of the roll shown by arrow of FIG. 4 along the rails 66, 67 and 68, respectively, so that the roll supports can be taken out from the housing 61 to the work side W and taken in the housing 61. Further, since there are provided stoppers 71 at an end of the rails 66, 67 and 68 at the work side W as shown in FIG. 4, the rolls and the roll supports are extended or taken out from the housing 61 properly and can be hung up by a crane or the like smoothly.
On the other hand, the work roll units 55 and 57 disposed below the strip 53 are supported at both ends thereof by roll supports 55a and 57a, respectively. The roll supports 55a and 57a are mounted to be capable of moving only in the up and down directions along a guide groove 70a of a lower frame 70 and are supported by intermesh adjustment devices 72 and 73 such as a screwed jack driven by a motor disposed in the bottom of the lower frame 70. The deflector roll 59 is directly mounted to the lower frame 70. The lower frame 70 is supported by a pair of cylinders 74 disposed at the work side W and the drive side D to be able to move up and down in the housing 61 and is adapted to be able to be fixed to a lower surface of a protrusion 61d disposed in the center of the housing. Further, the lower frame 70 is provided with four wheels 75 which are put on rails 76 and 78. The rails 76 and 78 are disposed on a base 77 at the work side W in the lower portion of the housing 61. The lower frame 70 can be moved on the rails 76 and 78 horizontally in the axial direction a of the roll by being pushed by a transportation cylinder 79.
Further, there is provided a roll rearranging device which can take out from the housing 61 and take in the housing 61 the upper roll units 56, 58 and 60 together with the lower roll unit groups 55, 57 and 59. That is, an arm 69 is horizontally projected at end of the upper roll supports 56a, 58a and 60a at the work side W and the arm 69 is formed with a groove 69a. A support 82 is disposed at the work side W of the lower frame 70 with the support being projected horizontally from the lower frame and then bending upward. A pair of brackets 80 is mounted on an upper end of the support 82. Pin holes 80a are formed in the pair of brackets 80 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. A support pin 81 is inserted into the pin holes 80a horizontally and can be secured with a nut 81a. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 5, when the support 82 and the brackets 80 are moved upward with regard to the arm 69, the support pin 81 mounted between the pin holes 80a is fitted into the grooves 69a of the arm 69. The height of the support 82 is determined so that the support pins 81 of the brackets 80 can be fitted into the groove 69a formed at the lower side of the end of the arm 69 and can support the upper roll supports 56a, 58a and 60a when the upper roll supports 56a, 58a and 60a and the lower frame 70 are put on the rails 66, 67, 68 and 76 of the housing 61, respectively. The distance between the brackets 80 is selected so that the arm 69 can move up and down between the brackets 80 without restraint when the support pin 81 is pulled out from the pin holes 80a in the operating condition where the upper roll unit 56a, 58a and 60a and the lower frame 70 are fixed to the housing 61. In the figure, numeral 88 denotes a keeper plate detachably mounted for preventing the lower frame 70 from moving in the axial direction of the roll with regard to the housing 61.
With the above structure, in the roll rearranging operation, the lower cylinder 74 of the housing 61 is shortened to move down the lower frame 70. After the lower frame 70 is thus put on the rail 76, the support pin 81 is manually mounted to the bracket 80 of the support 82 which is engaged with a desired upper roll unit requiring the rearrangement, for example, the work roll unit 56. Then, when the cylinder 62 for the work roll unit 56 is extended to move down the roll support 56a, the roll support 56a is horizontally supported to the support 82 and the rail 66 through the arm 69 and the support pin 81 and the wheel 65, respectively. Subsequently, when the moving cylinder 79 is moved forward after opening the keeper plate 83 of the housing 61 at the work side W, the work roll unit 56a is moved to the work side W together with the lower frame 70 while engaged with the support pin 81 of the support 82. The cylinder 79 is stopped at the position where the wheel 65 of the roll support 56a abuts against the stopper 71. Thereafter, exchange of an used roll for with a new roll, repair work for damaged rolls or the like is made in accordance with rearrangement procedure well-known heretofore and then by performing the reverse procedure to the above procedure the rearrangement works are finished.